Three hours before she was confronted by a bloodthirsty mob, Esheena fired learned that she had a serious problem on her hands.
She was in her office in the main government building. As military head and right arm to Governor Astreb, she was naturally entitled to rather impressive quarters---not just in the main wing, but also in the subterranean shelter from which she was capable of conducting subspace negotiations with relative assurance of her own safety. It'd been barely two hours since the communique with the Universe wherein she had signed off by congratulating Rush on being a gracious loser. She was busy trying to calculate how best to profit through acquiring the technology that would provide near-instantaneous matter transmission, when Astreb had come running into her office. He slammed open the doors with his shoulder, barely slowing down, and his gold skin had gone totally ashen. "Have you heard what they're doing? What those bastards are doing? Have you see? Have you heard?"
She looked up at him in confusion. "What are you babbling about? What..."
"It's all over the comms! All over everything! Everywhere! Everyone's heard about it! You've killed us, Esheena! You've killed us all!"
He was becoming hysterical, words tumbling over each other, becoming impossible to understand. She rose from behind her desk angrily, crossed the room, and stood before him, arms folded impatiently. What she really wanted to do was slap him but, aside from slitting the occasional throat or blowing an enemy out of space, Esheena tried to avoid violence whenever she could. "Would you calm down and tell me what you're going on about?"
For an answer, Astreb pulled a remote off his belt, aimed it at the viewscreen, and thumbed it to life. The screen snapped on...
.....and Esheena was seeing the bridge of the Universe. The angle was from over Rush's shoulder as he was facing the viewscreen....
.....and she was on the screen. She was siting there, conversing with Rush, and she was wearing an insufferably smug expression, and Rush was saying with a deadpan expression, "You're gambling half a million lives, including yours, on your sense of smell."
"Mine?" Esheena was smirking. "No. No, I'm broadcasting from a deep enough shelter that I'll be safe. As for the rest, well---as I said, I'm positive you're bluffing. I'll stake their lives on my instincts any day."
"If you care about your people, reconsider."
"No."
Esheena watched, feeling the blood drain from her face until her tint matched Astreb's. Her mouth moved, but no words came out, as the whole scene played itself out. Then the screen wavered slightly and the whole scene began anew.
"Do you have any idea how this makes us look!" Astreb was nearly shrieking. "There's the noble captain of the Universe, trying to save the hostages that we're holding----and yet valuing Jetitean lives so highly that he preserves the lives of our citizens while we ourselves are willing to throw them away!"
"They were never in danger," Esheena tried to stammer out.
"Well, they don't see it that way!"
"Shut the picture off,' she said, and when Astreb didn't respond fast enough, she grabbed the remote out of his hand and did it herself. She whirled to face him. "It's originating from the Universe, isn't it?"
"Of course it is! Where else!?"
"Jam it," she said tightly. "Jam the transmission!"
"We tried! They kept overriding it!"
"Shut it down, then! Shut down the entire comm system! Take it off the air!"
"We did that, too!" said Astreb in exasperation. "We went dark over one hour ago! It took them no more than ten minutes to wire it back to life!"
"From orbit? What are they? Magicians?"
"They're devils! Devils incarnate!" Astreb was wringing his hands. "There's uprising everywhere! The people are going berserk! They're furious! They say we don't care about them! That we used them, just as we're using the hostages!"
"We were trying to act in their best interests....."
"I know that! You know that!" He pointed out the general direction of the city. "But they don't know that! They don't care about it! They say we've betrayed them, and we're out for blood!"
"All right," said Esheena after a moment's thought. "Get to your personal broadcast studio. Get out on the comm. Tell the people that this is all a trick. The Space Federation is playing them for fools."
"They won't believe it," and he gripped her upper arm so hard that she felt as if he were going to dislocate it. "You haven't heard the things they've been saying. The rioting, the fury---I can't even get their attention...."
"Yes, you can," she said confidently. Delicately she disengaged his grip on her. "That's always been your strength. Speak to them. Get out over the comm and tell them...."
"Tell them what?!"
For a moment her patience wavered and she said "Something!" Then she reined herself in and said more calmly, "Something. Anything. Just do it. And stop nodding that way!" Whenever Astreb was particularly anxious, his head tended to bob in an accelerated manner. "You look like your head's about to fall off!" Astreb grinned and immediately gained control of himself.
Then he patted her on the shoulders, as if he were drawing strength from her, and said, "Bless you, Esheena. I don't know what I'd do without you to help steady me." And then he hurried her out of her office to prepare what he was determined would be the speech of his life. But he stopped just before he left and turned to Esheena, pointing a trembling finger. "And you----you get in touch with these Universe people. With this Captain Rush. We've tried to hail him; he ignores us. Perhaps he'll respond to you. You tell him we'll obliterate the hostages, every one of them, immediately!"
"I have that very thought in mind." She raised her voice slightly and said, "Smak!"
Smak was the name of one of the two guards who stood directly outside her office at all times. Smak was half again as tall as any Jetitean that Esheena had ever met, and twice as wide. He was also her lover on the side; a nice way, she felt, of commanding loyalty. He took a step into the door, moving aside as Astreb bustled out. He nodded slightly and said, "Yes?"
"Ready my safe room. And bring me Coora. I don't need any of the men attempting heroics. This time I'll cut her from sternum to crotch while Rush watches."
There had been no excess chatter on the bridge of the Universe for some time. Rush merely sat there in his command chair, fingers steepled, gazing intently at the planet below. "James," he would say every so often, "how's it going?"557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ym8xfSMa2
And she would say the same thing: "Broadcast continuing as ordered, sir."
He would nod, looking mildly distracted, and then go back to studying Jetitea, as if he were capable of actually seeing what was happening on the surface.
Speaking in a low voice so that only he could hear, Johansen leaned forward and said, "Nick---are you sure about this?"
He looked at her without answering, his purple eyes appearing distracted for a moment before focusing on her. Then he gave an ever so slight shake of his head before smiling widely. 'I guess we'll find out together if this is a good idea."
Kostanian looked up and said, "Incoming hail, sir."
"Still from Astreb?"
"No, sir. This is from Esheena."
"Ah-ha!" He rose from his chair, as if he felt some degree of comfort or even confidence by speaking to her on his feet. "Finally the power behind the power speaks to me again." He tapped his comm badge. "Wren. Talk to me."
"Wren here," came the voice of the Zypoth chief engineer.
"As we discussed, Renny. Are you at your designated post?"
"Ready and waiting for your order for emergency beam-out, sir."
"I'm keeping this channel open. Listen to everything that goes on and wait for my signal." He glanced at Johansen, who nodded back. "All right, Kostanian," he ordered, "Put her on visual."
The screen shimmered and Esheena appeared. With her, just as Rush suspected would be the case, was Coora. Esheena cut straight to the point: "What did you think you were doing, Captain?"
He affected a blank look. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Esheena. Is there a problem?"
"Don't be disingenuous with me, Captian."
He turned to Johansen with what seemed to be a puzzled expression. "Polite word for lying," she explained.
"Lying? Me?" He turned back to the screen. "I'm shocked and appalled that you'd imply such a thing, Esheena. Here we are, working to give you the best possible opportunities as we submit to your demands. And your response is to insult me. You have no idea how hurt I am."
"This is a charming little dance you have, Captain," she snapped at him. "I know what this is about. You seek to even out the status quo. You feel I undercut your authority in front of your people. So you decided that it would only be fair if you returned the favor. I will not bother to offer any thoughts as to your actions, since I see no reason to give you even more fodder to confuse the good people of Jetitea. I want you to cease the broadcast immediately."
"Broadcast?"
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, her exasperation mounting. "Do I have to threaten you again, Captain? Do I have to threaten her?" and she inclined her head toward Coora. "Our instruments show the broadcast is coming from your ship."
"From our ship? An unauthorized broadcast? I'm shocked and appalled. Lieutenant," Rush said stiffly, turning to face Johansen," do you know anything about some kind of----'broadcast'?"
James made a great show of checking the ops board, and then she let out a gasp so loud that one would've thought she'd just been tossed into a vacuum and all the air in her body was being expelled. "Captain! We seem to have a problem with the BVL," and then, by way of explanation, she said to Esheena on the screen, "Bridge Visual Log," before continuing to Rush. "Apparently the Visual Log detailing your communication with Esheena has been set into some kind of automatic broadcast into the communications web of Jetitea."
"Good God!" declared Rush. "How could this have happened? This must be stopped immediately!"
"I'll get right on it, sir. I'll run a level-one diagnostic. I'll have this glitch tracked down in no time."
"Esheena," Rush said, turning back to the screen. "Please accept my most heartfelt apologies. This is a new vessel, and we're still working out some of the bugs. I must tell you that, having learned of the situation, I am, frankly, shocked."
"And appalled?" Esheena said dryly.
"Yes, absolutely, appalled. Far be it from me to risk stirring up the ire of your people."
"Captain, maybe I think you are charming, or clever. But I am fully aware of your Prime Directive that states that there must be no interference in planetary affairs. You are doing so now, and I insist that you cease all such interference. Or to put in in simpler, one-syllable words: Hands off."
"Interesting, Esheena," Rush said thoughtfully. "You want us to obey the Prime Directive when information being disseminated is not to your liking.....but want us to violate it when it serves your convenience. You can't have it both ways, Esheena. And I wouldn't ask you to choose."
For a long moment the two of them simply stared at each other, challengingly, and then Esheena smiled. Very charming, Captain. You seem to think you have proven a point. Maybe I am now supposed to break down, admit the error of my ways, and remove the terms I have that govern the fate of these people." And she touched Coora on the shoulder. Coora shrank from her hand. "Captain, you are in no position to try and enforce guilt on me, or make me bow to your wishes." Something seemed to have caught her attention, and then she said, "Governor Astreb is about to address the people. I think it would interest you to see how a beloved leader can calm the concerns of even the most fearful of people."
She reached forward, apparently touching some sort of control, and then her image was replaced on the viewscreen by Astreb. He was sitting in his office, looking quite relaxed in an overstuffed chair, his legs casually crossed. Rush couldn't help but be struck once again by the sheer golden beauty of these people. If only they weren't so contemptible and foul within.
"My good people of Jetitea," began Astreb, spreading his hands wide.
That was as far as he got.
He jumped suddenly as the whine of a disruptor sounded outside the door of his office. He was on his feet, shouting out questions, demanding to know what was going on. It took absolutely no time for the answer to be supplied as the door was smashed open. Infuriated Jetiteans poured into the room, and if the faces of the Jetiteans looked nearly angelic when they were pleased, there was something incredibly terrifying to see those cherubic visages twisted in pure fury. They looked for all the world like a heavenly host, come to wreak a terrible vengeance.
"No, wait!" he shouted. "We were never going to hurt you! It's not that we didn't care! We can work this out, yes, we can!" and his head was bobbing furiously in that manner which Esheena had found annoying.
But they weren't listening to him. They had already heard all they needed to hear. One of the mob was wielding a phaser-like weapon, and he fired. His aim was not particularly good, however, as his pencil thin beam shot past Astreb's head, missing him by a few good inches.
Astreb, however, didn't see it, so distracted was he by the shouting and anger which filled the room. A Jetitean wielding a club swung at Astreb, and Astreb adroitly dodged to his left. It was a fast move, and had the beam of the weapon not been there, he would have managed to avoid (at least for a few seconds more) serious injury.
But the beam was there, and since Astreb didn't see it, the force and direction of his jump carried him straight through the beam, which sliced through his neck as efficiently as razor wire through a slab of meat. Astreb hadn't fully comprehended what was happening, and he was still nodding with desperate agreeability when his head slid off his shoulders and thudded to the floor.
There was a stunned silence on the bridge, and Johansen looked to Rush to see grim satisfaction in his eyes.
The screen switched back to reveal a shocked Esheena, who had clearly seen the whole thing. She was looking upward and to her left, apparently having witnessed the entire scene on another screen. Coora had seen it as well, and she'd gone dead white, putting her hand to her mouth as if she was worried that she was going to throw up---which she very well might have.
Esheena looked straight at Rush, and then back at the unseen screen. And then it was as if she forgot that she was on a live transmission with the Universe. Instead, she shouted, "Smak! Smak! Get in here!"
But there was no immediate response from the person she was trying to summon. Instead, what she heard, as did the rest of the crew, was more sounds of shouting. Of running feet, and weapons being fired, and howls of terror and pain.
"People want to believe in their leaders, Esheena," Rush said quietly. "You betrayed them, put them at risk, were willing to write off half a million lives on a whim. People don't take kindly to such betrayals."
The door to her inner sanctum began to buckle inward, and Esheena let out a shriek. Coora saw it as well, and she tried to bolt for a far part of the room, but Esheena grabbed her by the wrist and whipped her around, holding her in front of her body as a shield. The child struggled as Esheena yanked out a knife....the same one that she'd used to kill Chilo---and put it to the child's throat. "Don't come in here!" she was shouting, although it was doubtful she could be heard over the torrent of abuse and anger that was pouring through the door.
"Captain...." Johansen said nervously.
Rush looked carved out of marble. "You still on line, Wren?"
"Still here, sir."
"Get ready."
On the screen, they saw the door bend still further, and then it burst inward. They saw a quick glimpse of Smak, and he was fighting with such fierceness that Rush had a moment of sympathy for him. Whoever this behemoth was, he clearly wasn't going down without a fight. There were cuts and bruises all over him, looking like obscenities against the pure gold of his skin. And then he did indeed go down, driven to the ground by the infuriated Jetiteans stampeding through the door.
"Don't move!" Esheena was shouting at the crowd. She pressed the knife up and against the child's throat. "Don't move or this one's death will be on your hands!"
And that was when Rush, calm as you please, said, "Wren---energize."
And everybody watched as, on the screen, the familiar hum and scintillation of the transporter beam began to take effect. Esheena looked around in confusion as she heard the sound. Then she recognized it for what it was and for a moment----just for a moment---she thought she was about to elude the attackers.
She thought this for precisely as long as it took for Coora's molecular structure to dissolve and be spirited away to the Universe. And then Esheena found herself holding her knife to thin air.
Esheena spun, faced the screen, looked straight across the distance at Rush, and Esheena the blackmailer, the extorter, the murderer, screamed to Nicholas Rush, "Save me!"
And it was N'klaraet of Rush, N'klaraet the savage, N'klaraet the warrior, who had crossed swords with an empire and lived to tell the tale of it, who replied with ice-cold calm, "Ah-ah-ah. Remember what I said about the Prime Directive, sweetheart."
The mob descended upon her, and just before she vanished beneath their number, she howled, "You bastard!"
He replied softly, as much to himself as to her, since she was otherwise distracted and unable to hear him. "I've been called worse things before. Goodbye, Esheena." He turned to James and said, "Screen off."
Vanessa James moved to switch off the transmission, but just before she could, she saw blood spatter on the picture. She jumped back slightly, as if concerned that it was going to spray on her. And then the potentially gory scene was replaced by their view of the planet below. It turned calmly, serenely, and then from their godlike height it would have been impossible to tell that there was anything out of the ordinary going on.
"Commander," said Rush quietly, "give things an hour or two to calm down. Then contact the planet surface, find out who's in charge, and ascertain whether the safety of the refugees can be guaranteed. Let's hope the new regime will be more reasonable. It's hard to believe they'd be less so." And he headed for the turbolift.
"If I may ask, sir, where are you going?" inquired Johansen.
He paused at the lift entrance and then said thoughtfully, "To hell, probably." And he went out.
The bridge crew looked after him, and then Ronald Greer opined, "Give him six months, he'd be running the place."
Nobody disagreed.
Rush sat in the Team Room, staring intently at the drink in his hand. Crewmembers were glancing his way and talking softly among themselves. Word had spread throughout the ship of how Rush handled the blackmail and threats of the Jetitean government....correction, the former Jetitean government. A general consensus had already formed among the crew: This was a man you definitely wanted on your side rather than against you.557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKyefja10h
"Captain...."
Rush looked up and saw Wren 283 standing there. To Rush's mild surprise, Wren stuck out hish hand. "If it's not too forward, sir----I'd like to shake your hand."
"All right." Rush took the proffered hand and was astounded. Wren's hand seemed to swallow his and, despite its apparent delicacy, the fact was that Wren had one hell of a grip.
"I've served with a lot of Fleet officers," said Wren. "And many of them wouldn't have had the nerve to make the kind of calls you did. I have a knack for seeing things from both sides...."
"I'm sure."557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjyzRYKFbV
".....and I just want to say that it's going to be an honor serving with you. An honor. May the Great Bird of the Galaxy roost on your planet."
Rush stared blankly at hir. "The what?"
"You've never heard of the Great Bird of the Galaxy!" said Wren in shock. "Giant mythic bird. Considered good luck, although," s/he added thoughtfully, "some races consider it a bad omen. But there are always malcontents, I suppose."
"Well.....I'll take your 'blessing' in the spirit it's intended, then."
Wren released hish hold on Rush and then rode out of the Team Room, leaving Rush trying to restore circulation to his fingers.
Johansen entered the Team Room and saw him seated off in a corner by himself. She walked slowly over to the table, nodding silent greetings to crewbeings as she passed them. Standing in front of him at the table, she couldn't even tell whether he was aware of her presence.
"Captain?" she said softly.
He glanced up. She remembered the first time she had looked into those eyes of his. One would not have been able to tell from her outer demeanor, for Johansen had already constructed the tough, no-nonsense, get-ahead attitude which she had considered necessary for advancement in Fleet. But somehow those eyes had seemed to see right through it, as if no amount of artifice was sufficient to withstand his piercing gaze. Part of her was frightened. Another part was challenged. And a third adored him for it. And she was annoyed to discover now that her basic reactions had not changed, although she was doing everything she could to tone down the adoration part.
"You have a report, Commander?" he replied.
She nodded and sat down opposite him. "I've been speaking to the new provisional governor. His name is Izok. A little dour and downbeat, but basically a standup individual. He has given his personal assurance that the refugees are welcome to take up permanent residence on Jetitea. As a matter of fact, I'm rather pleased with the notion. He considers them to be symbols of government folly. Of how people can lose sight of truly important values."
"That's good to hear." He didn't sound particularly pleased. He didn't sound particularly anything, really. "And the refugees from the ship? From the Qeexar? They're okay with this?"
"They've already met with the new leaders. They're convinced that their sincere. The fact that Izok and his comrades have not asked us for anything certainly seems to reinforce their sincerity. As a matter of fact, Izok has stated that Jetitea has a large area of unsettled land to the north. That if we wind up with more refugees in a future situation, we are welcome to bring them back to Jetitea and they'll be accommodated." They're most anxious to make you happy, Captain. It, uhm," she cleared her throat in mild amusement, "it seems they consider you something of a hero."
"Is that a fact? All right, then. Good job, Commander. I knew I could depend on you to handle the situation."
"It's comforting to get the rare vote of confidence."
He looked at her with a slightly quizzical air, but she suspected the puzzlement was feigned. He likely knew exactly what she was going to say. "Anything else?"
"You did it again," she said. "Developed a plan and weren't up front with me about it. I didn't gainsay you when you decided to feed our record of the conversation to the Jetiteans. I rationalized that that was just dissemination of information regarding already existing planetary situations. But you only said you hoped that the citizens would bring pressure to bear. You didn't say anything about a governmental overthrow."
"I didn't plan it."
"Oh, didn't you?"
"No," he said quietly. "I didn't."
"But you hoped for it."
"I hoped that the people would do what was right."
"What you felt was right, you mean?"
He smiled thinly. "Well, that all depends on whether you consider right and wrong to be universal absolutes, or sticking to one's personal perspective."
"You could have saved Esheena's life."
"Yes, I could have."
"I thought that's what you'd planned as a backup, just in case things did get out of hand," said Johansen."
"Care for a drink?"
"Don't change the subject, and yes."
He nodded, got up, and went over to the bar. He poured her a shot of synthehol and returned to the table, sliding it in front of her. She took it without comment and downed half the contents, then put the glass back on the table. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to answer my question?"
"You didn't ask a question. You made a statement."
"I hate when you do this," she said, stabbing a finger at him. "I hate when you split hairs when you're in a discussion that makes you uncomfortable."
"You know me too well." He shifted in his chair, and then leaned forward. "I know you thought that was my backup plan. I let you think that. But I agreed with Wren that, on my order, s/he would lock onto the origin point of the signal and beam up any non-Jetitean lifeforms."
"Leaving Esheena to face mob justice."
"At least it was some kind of justice," he shot back. "She committed crimes."
"We had no right to judge them."
"We didn't."
"Oh yes we did. Admit it, Nick. If we were in a similar situation, witnessing a violent governmental overthrow, and the person being overthrown was someone whose policies you agreed with, you wouldn't think twice about saving him here. But with Esheena, you stood by and did nothing."
"Isn't that what the Prime Directive is all about?" he retorted. "Sitting around, doing nothing, tiptoeing around the galaxy and trying not to leave any footprints behind? I would've thought you'd be pleased with me, Elizabeth. I obeyed the Prime Directive."
"You obeyed the letter, but played fast and loose with the spirit. And dammit, you should have discussed it with me."
"I felt it would lead to an unnecessary argument."
"Maybe it would have led to necessary argument." She leaned forward as well until they were almost nose to nose. "Level with me, Nick. Was her greatest crime that she murdered Chilo and threatened the others? Or was it that she bruised your pride? Called you bluff? Would you have let her live if you hadn't felt she made you look weak in front of the crew?"
He swirled the slight remains of his glass around in the bottom, and then said softly, "There's got to be responsibility taken for actions. That is the galactic constant. There must be responsibility, and in this case, I forced it on Esheena."
"It wasn't your right to do so."
"Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes you just have to assess a situation and say, 'Dammit, it's me or nobody.' And if you can't live with 'nobody', then you've got to take action."
"But...."
"Tamara----let me explain this with a visual aid."
She rolled her eyes. "Nick, don't patronize me."
"I'm not. I swear, I'm not. I just want to make a point." He picked up Johansen's glass and indicated the remaining contents. "Answer me: Half empty or half full?"
"Aw, Nick...."
"Half empty or half full?"
"All right," she sighed. "It's half...."
But before she could complete the sentence he tossed back the drink, then turned the empty glass over and put it on the table. And then he said, "The correct answer is: It's gone. So why dwell on it?"
He handed her back the empty glass. She stared into it. "Thanks for half a drink, Captain."
"My pleasure, Commander. We have to do this again sometimes." He rose and said, "Have Greer set course for the Ihiolcian Eagle and take us there at warp four."
"Already done, sir. We're under way."
He blinked in shock and glanced out at the viewing port. Sure enough, the stars were hurtling past, space warping around them in a spiral of colors. "Ah. Nicely done."
"Clearly I'm going to have to read you mind, since you're being less than successful at communicating with me orally."
He nodded and started to walk past her, but she placed a hand on his chest, stopping him for a moment. "Nick," she said softly, "your self-reliance was always one of the things I lov----that I admired about you. It's probably your greatest strength. But you've got to start trusting your officers. You've got to start trusting me."
"I do trust you, Tamara."
"But you trust yourself more."
He shrugged. "What kind of captain would I be if I didn't?"
Johansen didn't hesitate. "The kind who would have saved Esheena."
For a long moment he was quiet. Johansen was expecting some kind of smart-aleck reply, so she was shocked when he said, "Do you want to know what bothers me? Not this shadow dance or moralistic carping about justice versus compassion. Do you want to know what bothers me the most?"
"Sure."
He looked at her and there was something very bad in those purple eyes. "I'm bothered that I turned off the screen. If I was going to refuse to save her, then I should have been strong enough to stand there and watch justice inflicted upon her. Instead I turned away. I let myself out. Oh, I tell myself that I was sparing my crew, but the truth is that I couldn't watch."
She wasn't entirely sure what to say. "Nick, I...."
"I used to be a strong man, Tamara. I keep this," and he traced the line of his scar, "to remind me of the man I used to be, because I was always concerned that life in Fleet---life away from Rizajor----would soften me. Would cause me to lose touch with my roots. And that's just what's happened. I made a threat, I was ready to carry it out----and then I wavered. Then I carried out a plan that left a murdering bitch to her deserved reward.....but could not watch. I've always told myself that I'm still N'klaraet of Rush, the barely contained savage wearing a cloak of civility. But what if, when you remove the cloak---there's nothing there?"
"Nick..." and she rested a hand on his shoulder. "You grew up at a time when compassion was a liability. A weakness. Now---now compassion can be your greatest strength. Don't be ashamed of it. Embrace it."
His reply was a grunt. "Let's agree to table this discussion, Commander."
"But..."
"No, Commander," he said in a tone that she'd come to recognize. She knew there was no point in pursuing the matter as he continued, "Right now, my greater concern is Lieutenant Thul and Ambassador Turhi. Let's hope their enforced time together at the Ihiolcian Eagle was enough to make them think more highly of each other."557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEG5qt12mn
